KAA Gent - Club: the Club Facts

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Exactly three weeks after its last game of the year against Union, Blue-Black resumes its season with the quarterfinals of the Croky Cup. Read everything you need to know about the match & opponent here!

The match

It is only the sixth time this century that Club is still active on 3 levels (league + cup + European) at the winter break.

No other club in the Jupiler Pro League played as many matches this season as Club Brugge KV and KAA Gent. This cup encounter is already their 35th match of the season for both teams.

Club had a successful winter training camp in Marbella. It ended with a 3-0 victory in a friendly game with German 1. FC Nürnberg.

Club cannot call on Raphael Onyedika and Denis Odoi for the time being. They are currently active at the Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria and Ghana.

Since the cup reform in 1963, it is the 29th time Club has hit the quarterfinals of the cup. On the 28 previous occasions, Club Brugge advanced 22 times (78.6%) and was eliminated six times (21.4%).

This season, Blauw-Zwart qualified for this stage by eliminating 2 teams from the Challenger Pro League. In the 1/16th final, Club was far too strong for K. Beerschot VA (0-6). It became the biggest away win in history for Club in the cup (0-6). Goals were scored by Igor Thiago, Andreas Skov Olsen (2x), Denis Odoi and Hugo Vetlesen (2x). In the 1/8th final, SV Zulte Waregem visited Jan Breydel (4-0). Both Andreas Skov Olsen and Igor Thiago scored a brace.

Club Brugge is the record cup winner with 11 wins. The last win dates back to 2015. In the Jupiler Pro League, Club and Gent already played each other twice this season. Both teams won their home games. In the KAA Gent Arena, Hyun-seok Hong provided the two Gent goals. In between, Hans Vanaken had equalized (2-1). At Jan Breydel, it became 2-0 thanks to 2 penalty kicks by Igor Thiago.

If Hans Vanaken can score, it will be his 10th goal in the Croky Cup for Club Brugge. He also already handed out 9 assists in the cup for Blauw-Zwart.

In this cup campaign, Andreas Skov Olsen is the top shooter with 4 goals.

If this match is not settled after 90 minutes, extensions and possibly penalty kicks will follow.

The winner of this duel between KAA Gent and Club Brugge KV will face the winner of the quarterfinal between R. Union St.-Gilloise and RSC Anderlecht in the semifinals.

The opponent

On Tuesday, Club Brugge will be guests at the KAA Gent Arena. After 2/3rds of the Jupiler Pro League, Hein Vanhaezebrouck's team is in third place in the ranking with 38 points. That's 10 less than leader Union and 4 more than Club Brugge.

Like Club, KAA Gent went to Spain for their winter training camp. In Olivia, it won a practice game against Romanian CFR Cluj 2-1. The 18-year-old left flank attacker Matoas Fernandez-Pardo signed for both Gent goals.

Gent cannot call on Tarik Tissoudali (Morocco) and Núro Fortuna (Angola). His are playing at AFCON. Furthermore, Tsuyoshi Watanabe (Japan) and Hyun-seok Hong (South Korea) are also absent due to their participation in the AFC Asia Cup.

KAA Gent also had a player leave in the winter mercato. Youth product Malick Fofana left the club for a handsome transfer fee and moved to Olympique Lyonnais, Clinton Mata's team.

Gent reinforced itself with goalkeeper Daniel Schmidt. The Japanese came over for free from STVV and should help deal with Paul Nardi's long-term injury. He celebrated his debut in the Belgian league with the Canaries in 2019 against Club Brugge.

The Buffaloes qualified for the quarterfinals of the Croky Cup for the fourth consecutive season. This season, they got to this stage by eliminating these teams. In the 1/16th final, KAA Gent drew to Patro Eisden. Tissoudali put the visitors ahead, but just after halftime Hadj Moussa was able to equalize. In the closing stages, Hong and Kums tied the final score at 1-3. In the 1/8th final, the Buffaloes were too strong for STVV. Hugo Cuypers scored the only goal at Staaien (0-1).

In the cup, Hugo Cuypers, Hyun-seok Hong, Sven Kums and Tarik Tissoudali are top shooters with 1 goal.

Milestones

Philip Zinckernagel can play his 30th game for Club Brugge.
For Dedryck Boyota, it could be his 25th match at Club.
Andreas Skov Olsen can play the 200th match of his career. He played 50 times for FC Nordsjaelland (Den), 71 times for FC Bologna (Ita) and 78 times for Club Brugge KV.